St John Ambulance to county’s rescue

St John Ambulance’s emergency crews came to the county’s rescue last week, after it came to a grinding halt due to snow.

The crew answered over 100 calls for help, travelled 2,400 miles, lent hospitals two 4×4 ambulances and four road ambulances and even had to dig to get to people’s aid.

Although the volunteer service will step down from Tuesday, December 7, they will remain on standby in case the weather worsens again.

Commissioner for Lincolnshire St John Ambulance Peter Howie said volunteers have worked quickly and effectively since December 1.

He said: “Our crews, who are all trained to a standard of excellence, have done everything from responding to calls for people with suspected heart attacks to taking pregnant women to the maternity unit to have their babies.

“We’ve transported renal patients for life-saving dialysis, taken in several urgent hospital admissions and even helped rescue a patient who had fallen in the snow and sustained a head and neck injury.

“Many of the patients have been literally dug out of their houses, with the crews using spades, shovels and snow pushers to get elderly, unwell people out of their homes to the vehicles.

“It is a credit to the training and standard of our crews and their clinical and driving skills that they have been able to manage the challenges.

“Many of our volunteers have taken leave from their employed jobs to support this work.”

Their help came alongside United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust’s announcement that general surgery and appointments were cancelled due to lack of staff able to get in.